 |
|
Govt to divest in PSUs with consent of Left
No child adoption by foreigners in routine manner: SC
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
India signs MoU with African union
Rescued girl complains against NGO
Bal Thackeray fined
Jaiprakash’s bail plea rejected
|
|
Govt to divest in PSUs with consent of Left
New Delhi, October 27 Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting that the question of “disinvestment of small potions of government equity in non-Navratna profit-making public sector enterprises was discussed. The issue of raising resources for the government was also discussed. Further discussions will continue”. Of the 240 odd Central PSUs, only nine fall under the Navratna category. About 88 PSUs are in the red, while the rest are making profits. Only 28 are listed and some of them have unlocked higher value after listing. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat had stated that the Left parties were opposed to the disinvestment of Navratna companies, but shares could be sold in other companies to raise resources for the social sector. On the FDI in retail sector, the government informed the Left leaders that they had not taken any decision on the issue and would not take any view without discussing it with the Communists. Left leaders, who are opposed to allowing FDI in this sector, the largest employer after agriculture, also submitted a note, which the government promised to look into and respond. On the controversial Iran nuclear issue on which India had voted, along with the USA, favouring the IAEA resolution against Tehran, Mr Chidambaram said, “After some discussion, it was decided to await the return of External Affairs Minister who is away to Russia. Hence, the matter will be taken up in the next meeting.” The government also sought Left support to two Bills to amend the banking laws as well as the Pension Bill all of which are under consideration of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, he said. Mr Chidambaram said the Left indicated that they would consider the matter and put forward their suggestions for amendments, if any. In response to the Left demand for tabling the crucial Women’s Reservation Bill and the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill in the ensuing winter session of Parliament, the government conveyed to them “the progress made in the consultations” on two legislations. Left leaders demanded the government to table the “original bill”, which calls for 33 per cent reservation in Parliament and legislative assemblies, in the winter session and let the parties discuss it and bring in any amendments. On the tribal Bill, they asked the government to bring in a foolproof law to protect forest dwellers and suggested the 2001 Census as the cut-off date for deciding the ownership of forest land, as 1980 cut-off date was discriminatory. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and top Left leaders, including Harkishen Singh Surjeet, A.B. Bardhan, Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury. |
|
No child adoption by foreigners in routine manner: SC
New Delhi, October 27 Stating that the adoption by foreign parents in appropriate cases might be permitted, as per the guidelines laid down by the apex court in Lakshmi Kant Pandey case earlier, a Bench of Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat and Mr Justice Arun Kumar said: “It should be ensured that behind the mask of social service or uplift, the evil design of child trafficking is not lurking.” “It is the duty of the state to ensure a safe roof over an abandoned child. Keeping in view the welfare of the child, all possible efforts should be made by the state governments to explore the possibility of adoption under the supervision of the designated agency,” the apex court said. The court further said the state governments also had to take into account the guidelines laid down by Union Ministry of Welfare on May 29, 1995 following the Lakshmi Kant Pandey case on adoption within the country and abroad. The instructions were issued by the court while rejecting an appeal by an NGO, St Theresa’s Tender Loving Care Home, working in Andhra Pradesh. The NGO had approached the court for adopting a five-year-old girl child, Sahiti, an abandoned daughter of an unwed mother. The NGO was approached by a couple from the USA in 2002 for adopting Sahiti after they had adopted a boy from the state in 1999. The appeal was filed by the NGO against the Andhra Pradesh High Court order that rejected its petition for grant of permission to the American couple to take Sahiti to their country. The Family Court concerned in the state had also rejected the adoption application by the couple on the ground that there were serious doubts over the credentials of certain activists of the NGO. The apex court noted that some functionaries of the NGO were even convicted for cheating, manipulating and fabricating documents. “While permitting any organisation to keep a child or give him or her in adoption, its credentials are to be minutely scrutinised,” the court said. In the guidelines issued by the apex court in the Pandey case, it was specifically laid down that if foreigners wished to adopt a child, every application had to be sponsored by a child welfare agency licensed by the government of the country to which the adopter belonged. No application was to be entertained directly by any Indian agency working in the filed of inter-country adoption or any child welfare home.
|
|
India signs MoU with African union
New Delhi, October 27 The MoU was signed at Hyderabad House by Ms Shashi Tripathi, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs and Dr Bernard
Zoba, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure in the presence of Minister of State for External Affairs Rao Inderjit Singh, incharge of Africa and Caribbean nations. To be funded by the MEA under its Aid-to-Africa Budget, the Pan-African network will provide tele-education, tele-medicine, internet and video conferencing services and support e-governance, e-commerce, infotainment, resource mapping and meteorological services connectivity. The project covers a total of 3-year period with establishment in one year, one-year warranty and the last year AMC. The network will connect five universities, 53 learning centres, ten super speciality hospitals and 53 remote hospitals in the 53 Pan-African countries. There will be two universities from India and three universities from Africa, three super speciality hospitals from India and the rest seven of them will be from Africa. The tele-education set up, apart from establishing the communication infrastructure, also includes setting up the five tele-education studios with post-production set up. The network will have the flexibility that an expert teacher would be able to give lecture even from a learning center |
|
|
Rescued girl complains against NGO Lucknow, October 27 According to Varanasi SP Navneet Sikera, they have lodged criminal cases against the NGO head under Sections 354 , 395 and 264 of the IPC. Speaking to The Tribune, Mr Sikera said an FIR had been lodged after one of the rescued girls, Reshma, complained against the NGO and the university students, who set them free. The SSP charged the NGO of organising the rescue operation for projecting itself as a “messiah” and gaining cheap publicity. “We have enough evidence on video tape acquired from channels to show the manner in which the girls were molested during the operation,” he said. On Monday a local NGO working with the rescue and rehabilitation of sex workers in Varanasi’s red light area had rescued 31 girls, 17 of them minor, with the help of a team of law students of the BHU. The girls have since been sent to the Nari Niketan. Dismissing the police allegations, Ajeet said the police was covering up its inefficiency by hunting for him under cooked-up charges. “They are making efforts to implicate me so that they are not exposed,” he said. Ajeet said he had come to know that many minor girls had been brought to Shivdaspur from Bengal and Bihar and are being kept in bondage. “We informed the SSP on his mobile phone, faxed a letter to Varanasi DM and the NHRC around 2 on Monday.” According to Ajeet, the SSP called him to his residence, but when they reached there, he was not available. He was having lunch. “We talked to him on the intercom, but he asked us to wait.” Ajeet kept waiting till 3.45 pm, but Sikera did not come, so Guria president left behind his friend Shiva. The SSP, according to Ajeet, asked Shiva to go the red light area and the local CO would directly reach there to help in the rescue operation. When no police support arrived till 5 pm, pimps and brothel keepers became suspicious and began to take the minor girls away. “We had no choice but to undertake the operation and rescue the girls facing the opposition of the brothel keepers and pimps,” he said. “Around 6 pm, the SO, Manduadih, came. He was followed by the CO, Cantonment, but none of them took any action. They were openly supporting the pimps,” charged Ajeet. “We managed to take the minor girls to the Manduadih police station around 7 pm and handed them over to the police. Around 10.30 pm, under the media’s watchful eyes, we all went home after filing an FIR at the Manduadih police station,” he added. He accused the pimps and brothel keepers of damaging the houses where they had gone, breaking down pan kiosks and other “gumti” in the area with the support of local police personnel the next morning. Later, the police lodged a complaint against the Guria volunteers for molestation, abduction and robbing and are searching for them, Ajeet said.
|
|
|
Bal Thackeray fined
Mumbai, October 27 Judge Abhay Oak imposed the fine on Thackeray for seeking repeated adjournments on his petition, which seeks to transfer a defamation case filed by former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal. Thackeray wants the case transferred from a Nashik court to Mumbai. The court ordered Thackeray to be fined after his counsel Rajan Shirodkar sought yet another adjournment to file an affidavit. The court then adjourned the matter to November 14. Thackeray has prayed for the case to be transferred to Mumbai on the ground that he will not be able to appear before the Nashik court due to security reasons. Bhujbal had filed the original defamation suit against Thackeray for a speech he made in Nashik some time ago. |
|
Jaiprakash’s bail plea rejected
Patna, October 27 The warrant against the Union Minister was issued for securing the release of his brother, Vijay Prakash, the RJD candidate from Jamui, “illegally” from police custody on October 18. The minister’s counsel moved the court with the bail petition yesterday. The minister has been charged with entering into a criminal conspiracy with the officer in charge of the Khaira police station for the release of his brother. Mr Justice S.K. Singh, however, rejected the bail petition and upheld the arrest warrant issued against him. Meanwhile, the SP Jamui has sought help from his counterparts in 38 districts to arrest the minister and his brother. |
|
HC seeks list
of tainted
IPS officers
Patna, October 27 A division bench comprising Justice Nagendra Rai and Justice S.N. Hussain directed the government to submit the list of tainted IPS officers during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by the Bihar Chapter of Indian Medical Association.
— UNI |
|
Vatsyayan heads IGNCA Trust
New Delhi, October 27 Dr Vatsyayan, a trustee and Chairperson of the Executive Committee, was elected unanimously on Wednesday. Her election came a day after the Delhi High Court notice to her on a petition challenging her re-nomination to the committee.
— TNS |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Videos
